Travel

The entire medical mission group flew together to Guatemala. We brought over 30 bags of equipment, almost 50lbs each, filled with surgical instruments, crutches, splints, a wheelchair, medical supplies, and anesthetic equipment. Although we got our controlled substances at the hospital we were volunteering at, we brought along all our other pharmaceuticals - from sevoflurane to emergency drugs to antiemetics to antibiotics. Getting these through customs always takes a little time; indeed, we arrived at the airport 3 hours before the flight and spent a while waiting when we arrived in La Aurora Airport in Guatemala City.

Although it felt a little silly bringing so much stuff, when I arrived at the hospital in Guatemala, I knew why. We were working at a small but adorable hospital only used for mission trips. Although it had large equipment like beds, operating tables, Mayo stands, cabinets, an autoclave, and ventilators, it didn't have too much more. We even brought disposable things like gloves, gowns, hats, and masks because we didn't want to use up local resources.

Each day, we climbed up four floors through the tiny, narrow, adorable hospital. There were three small operating rooms, and according to other group members who'd been on multiple missions, this place was luxurious. We quickly settled in, hanging shoe-racks on the walls to hold our supplies, testing the monitors and ventilator, hooking up the suction and electrocautery. Each ventilator was different, donated from American hospitals once they were obsolete. When I started residency, we had a few similar models so I wasn't completely lost, though over the last few years, Stanford has phased all these old-school Drager machines out.  I got to work, rummaging through our equipment, jerry-rigging and cobbling things together until I was satisfied. Although there was a small culture shock when I first walked in, when I got down to it, we had everything to deliver a smooth, safe, and stable anesthetic.

Images taken by me on the Operation Rainbow medical mission.